Ukiah City Council OKs $50,000 for well repairs

The Ukiah City Council Wednesday approved spending more than $50,000 to complete repairs on the city's problematic well at the corner of East Gobbi Street and South Orchard Avenue.

Public Works Director Tim Eriksen said water production was stopped at the well, called Well No. 7, in July after staff noticed a vibration.

"The vibrations pulled a ton of sand into the well and offset the shaft," Eriksen told the council, explaining that the city entered into an "emergency contract" with Groundwater Pump and Well, Inc of Healdsburg, which determined what had happened and drew out all the sand.

"This (contract) is to rehab the damage and put (the well) back in," Eriksen continued, adding that the staff will also be talking to the previous contractor to determine "how the sand may have gotten into the well."

"It seems we've had some problems with our wells and I don't know why our contracts with these various companies don't allow us to hold them accountable," said Council member Phil Baldwin. "Why aren't our contracts written in a way that we can hold them accountable for these failures?"

"The problems have all been with No. 7," Eriksen said, explaining that the work for that well "was done under an emergency process and some of the equipment was ordered well before that and the warranties have expired, and also we had no inspector. We're not sure how to hold anyone accountable.

"The wrong motor was installed," Eriksen continued, "and we didn't realize that until a long time after the fact. That's why on almost all of our contracts now we have construction management."

"I hope the ad-hoc (committee assigned to discuss this) has gotten this all figured out and will keep this from happening in the future," Baldwin said, and Mayor Mary Anne Landis, who serves on that committee, said "lessons had been learned.

"We need to consult with the operators, and then hire an inspector to sign off on the submittals," Landis said. "I think these are valid ways to avoid these problems in the future."

"It seems like there should be better guarantees than there are," Baldwin said. "I've been disappointed that we've had these problems."

"Our vote today doesn't mean they're not going to pursue (investigating) what happened," said Council Member Mari Rodin. "I'm going to move we approve this and stay hopeful (they figure it out). The point was we needed to get this going for the winter."

In his staff report prepared for the meeting, Eriksen wrote that repairs needed to be done soon so "the well will be in production for the winter. During the winter we lose our ability to draw water from the river as a result of elevated turbidity levels. Well No. 7 is an important water producer during all seasons, but in the winter it is critical."

Eriksen said the work to inspect the well and remove the sand cost $17,185, and the estimate for rebuilding the well is $30,545 for a total of $47, 730.

Eriksen asked for the council to approve a budget amendment of $52,504 from the Water Fund Balance, and the council voted yes.

Justine Frederiksen can be reached at udjjf@pacific.net, on Twitter @JustFrederiksen or at 468-3521.